First wireless emulator suitable for 5G systems: a New emulation Paradigm

Our Technology

To accommodate the higher speeds & low latencies envisioned in 5G, the industry is expanding to higher frequency bands than those used in preceding wireless network generations. To achieve longer range and to leverage the highly specular reflections at these frequencies, phased array beamformed antennas which includes multiple antenna elements (tens or hundreds) are required.

Engineers need to understand how 5G millimeter Wave systems behave in a wide range of propagation scenarios, which is typically accomplished through an emulation approach but testing and verifying designs for millimeter-wave solutions remains a challenge for the industry as it moves into 5G.

In 5G mmWave systems, the number of antennas as well as the bandwidth are both increased by at least an order of magnitude. This makes the existing emulation paradigm unsuitable for 5G in millimeter wave bands. The computational complexity and cost involved in its construction are show-stoppers when the traditional emulation paradigm is applied to millimeter wave 5G systems.

The MilliLabs patent-pending channel emulator is based on a new emulation paradigm for 5G millimeter Wave systems.

Our solution

The ​MilliLabs Channel Emulator integrates the emulation of both the wireless millimeter wave channel and the RF front-end (phased-array antennas) into a 5G millimeter wave channel emulator targeted for customer premises equipment, small cell and base station testing.

The MilliLabs Emulator is the test platform for new applications in 5G, Connected Vehicles, high frequency bands, low latency, extra-large bandwidth and ultra-dense networks. It is the solution to design, prototype, develop, validate and perform performance testing of 5G systems in millimeter wave bands; from physical layer testing to full-stack testing.

The technology is highly modular to support different baseband modem SoC (System on a chip) and modem solutions.

The emulation of the RF front-ends is a powerful way to iterate through system design, test, and verification. The designers are not encumbered by the slow and expensive cycles of RF multi-antenna front-end development and fabrication.

The MilliLabs emulator is used for the Connected Vehicles ecosystem where both the receiver and the transmitter are moving.